Player Ratings: Spectacular Garcia, Morales lead to hard-fought win

Nick Rimando - 6.5 It's always difficult giving Rimando a rating when he wasn't asked to do much. I try to base his ratings on him being positionally sound and on the quality of his saves among other things. Being that he didn't have to make what I would say is a quality save by his standards, he gets a bit lower rating. Not a bad game at all.

Chris Wingert - 5.5 Not the best game from one of my favorites. Seems like he gave the ball away much more than usual and that the Galaxy offense was getting the best of him. Without looking at his passing game through a statistical lens, I would say this wasn't a good showing for him.

Nat Borchers - 6 Borchers probably could have cleared the ball out before it bobbled around and landed at Donovan's feet resulting in a goal, but it is hard to say. Assigning blame is not the point, but Borchers typically clears those sort of balls..

Kwame Watson-Siriboe -7.5 Let's give credit where credit is due. Watson-Siriboe had a great game and made timely step-in after timely step-in. That, in my mind, was a big reason as to why the Galaxy had a hard time getting something going on offense.

Tony Beltran - 7 Good game for the guy that is hanging out on the line between being called up to the USMNT on a regular basis or not being called up at all. Beltran seemed more determined on offense than usual.

Kyle Beckerman - 7.5 Beckerman guided this time to a hard fought victory. I was nervously waiting to see how RSL would react to the late first half goal by L.A. and I felt like Beckerman lead the charge.

Khari Stephenson - 8 I knew Stephenson could take them from distance because of his clinical technique, but I didn't think he was as much of a weapon as he is. He easily could have had at least 2 goals, but justice was served and he got a difficult one after a couple of very close attempts. I like that he is just one more threat in the RSL attack.

Ned Grabavoy - 6 Maybe I got a little bit too used to Grabavoy being one of the offensive catalysts. The game against the Galaxy wasn't what we were accustomed to over the past few games, but not bad.

Javier Morales - 8.5 Two assists on a night is a good night. Yet another indicator that Javi has quietly returned to being the pre-injury playmaker. His passing is perfectly weighted on most attempts and that allows the forwards to finish the plays. It is a beauty to watch.

Joao Plata - 6.5 Plata could use another goal. His play leads to others scoring however, which is equally valuable. What I am seeing with every passing game is how good Plata is at winning the ball and quickly getting around defenders. That in and of itself is invaluable.

Robbie Findley - 7 Findley continued his run of good form and had a nice assist. This far into the season, I am now convinced that Findley's skill set is necessary for RSL's offense to run as intended. I love having him back, looks more like RSL of '09 or '10.

Substitutes

Olmes Garcia - 9 Two gals in about 30 minutes is not bad. And I don't mean to be hyperbolic, because Garcia has a lot left to prove, but he is averaging a goal about every 100.25 minutes (thanks @samstejskal ) and that is comparable to the best players in the world. Once again, the sample size is small and he's not there yet, but I can't complain about this statistical trend.

Devon Sandoval - 6.5 Connected well and was credited with an assist. Not bad for the few minutes he saw. Also took a questionable shot, but hey, he does well what we expect him to do.

Sebastian Velasquez - 6 Velasquez was back to his old tricks of humiliating defenders. He is due a goal and game close against L.A. It will come sooner or later. I also see him getting more minutes as time goes on because frankly, he deserves it.